Bulkhead locking arrangement

ABSTRACT

A freight bracing bulkhead assembly embodying an improved locking arrangement that facilitates its release when a load is bearing against the bulkhead. The locking arrangement includes locking pins and supporting sockets that have cooperating tapered surfaces that are in full engagement when the locking pins are in their engaged position and which are spaced apart as the pins move toward their released positions.

United States Patent 1191 Krokos et '81.

14 1 May 29, 1973 54 BULKHEAD LOC 3,181,903 5/1965 Olander ..105/3783,373,701 3/1968 Shook: ..105/376 ARRANGEMENT 3,433,180 3/1969 Shook...l05/376 5] Inventors: ay K J J- 1408- 3,464,369 9/1969 Erickson etal.l05/376 trewa, both of Detroit, Mich. [731 Assignee: Evans ProductsCompany, Plym- Primary Examiner-Draw Hoffman outh Mich Attorney-ErnestA. Beutler [22] Filed: Jan. 3, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT [2n Appl'No: 215199 Afreight bracing bulkhead assembly embodying an Related s m u Dataimproved locking arrangement that facilitates its 63 release when a loadis bearing against the bulkhead. 1 Commuauon of 9' 1969' The lockingarrangement includes locking pins and abandoned.

v supporting sockets that have cooperating tapered sur- 521 u.s.c1..'.....105/376 105/369B 105/378 faces that are in full engagement whenthe locking 51 1111.01.11 I .......B 60p 7/14 P are in their engagedPosition and which are [58] Field of Search silos/369 B, 376, 37s;epeeed apart as the p move toward their released 292 3 positions.

{56] References Cited 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS3,164,395 1/1965 Burch et a]. ..105/376 BULKHEAD LOCKING ARRANGEMENTCROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is acontinuation of copending application Ser. No. 865,277 filed Oct. 10,1969, now abancloned.

I BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improvedlocking mechanism and,more particularly to an improved bulkhead lockingmechanism.

The use of freight bracing bulkhead assemblies for I holding freightagainst movement during transit is well known. These bulkhead assembliesfind particular application in rail transportation and are highly usefulin holding the freight against any significant movement during transit.Due to the tremendous shock loadings encountered in this formoftransportation, the bulkhead assembly must be designed so as towithstand these shock loadings. conventionally the bulkhead assembliesare held in preselected bracing positions by a locking mechanism thatincludes a plurality of locking pins that are adapted to cooperate withopenings in the transporting vehicle structure. The locking pins arereciprocally supported in respective socket assemblies for movementbetween locking and released positions.

Frequently, the transported load shifts during transit so that itapplies a considerable force against the bulkhead assembly. Often timesthe bulkhead assembly actually deflects'to a significant degree undersuch forces.

These forces and the resultant bulkhead deflection makes it difficult torelease the locking pins so that the transporting vehicle may beunloaded. It is not an infrequent occurrence to employ a fork lift truckto apply a force on the operating handle of the bulkhead lockingmechanism to release the locking pins. These severe loadings causefailures in the locking mechanism.

It is, therefore, a principalobject of this invention to .provide alocking mechanism particularly adapted for use in a freight bracingbulkhead assembly.

It is another object to provide a bulkhead locking mechanism that may beeasily moved from its locked to its released position even under theinfluence of high static loads and deformation of the bulkhead assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A locking mechanism embodying this invention isparticularly adapted for holding a freight bracing bulkhead assembly orthe like in a freight bracing position. Such a locking arrangementincludes a locking member adapted to coact with a cooperating lockingmember of the transporting vehicle for holding the bulkhead assembly inthei bracing position. The locking member has a shank portion that isslidably supported in a socket opening defined by a socket member thatis carried by the bulkhead assembly. The locking member is thus movablebetween a locking and a released position. The locking and socketmembers have cooperating surfaces that are in full abutting relationshipwhen the locking member is in its locking position and which becomesspaced apart as the locking member is moved toward its releasedposition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic top plan view ofa railway freight car embodying this invention..

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED I EMBODIMENT Referring first toFIG. 1, a railway freight car embodying this invention is depectedschematically at 11 and includes a floor 12 and opposing side walls 13and 14. It is to be understood that, although this invention isdescribed in connection with a railway freight car, it may be used inconnection with other freight transporting vehicles or, for that matter,in other more general applications. Any type of freight may be carriedin the car 11 and in the depected embodiment large coils of steel 15 aretransported. To prevent any significant movement of the freight duringtransit, a freight bracing bulkhead, indicated generally by thereference numeral 16 and shown in most detail in the remaining views, isprovided. The bulkhead assembly 16 is sup ported for movement along thelength of the car 11 and may be locked in preselected bracing positionsto engage the freight 15, as will become more apparent as thisdescription proceeds. During transit the freight 15 may shift to someextent, as indicated by the broken line position 15a in FIG. 1. Suchshifting occurs due to the weight of the transported freight and theconsiderable shock loadings it undergoes. When the freight so shifts, itwill apply a force against the bulkhead assembly l6 and may, in fact,cause the bulkhead assembly 16 to deflect as shown in the dotted lineposition 16a. With the type of locking mechanism heretofore employed,release of the locking mechanism under such conditions was 'difficult orimpossible. Using the locking mechanism of this invention, however,release is simplified under such conditions.

Referring now to the remaining figures, the bulkhead assembly 16 iscomprised of a frame assembly 17 which I may be of any known type andwhich provides oppositely facing load engaging faces 18. At the upperend of the frame assembly 17, a trolley arrangement, indicated generallyby the reference numeral 19, is provided for supporting the bulkheadassembly 16 for movement along the car 11 on wall or roof supportedtracks 21 and 22. For this purpose, a pair of timing shafts 23 and 24form a portion of the trolley assembly 19 and carry sprocket wheels 25and 26 at their opposite ends that coact with the tracks 21 and 22 foroverhead support of the bulkhead assembly 18. The details of the trolleyassembly 19 are not shown since this assembly forms no part of theinvention.

Supported in the car 11 adjacent the tracks 21 and 22 are a pair ofupper locking pin plates 27 and 28 in which pairs of spaced apertures 29are formed. Lower locking pin plates 31 and 32 are fixed to the floor 12and also define pairs of longitudinally spaced apertures 33. Lockingpins, indicated generally by the reference numerals 34, 35, 36 and 37are carried at the four corners of the bulkhead frame 17. Each of theselocking pins has a pair of pin portions 38. The pin portions 38 of thelocking pins 34 and 35 are adapted to be received in selected of theapertures 29 and the pin portions 38 of the lower locking pins 36 and 37are adapted to be received in selected of the apertures 33 for holdingthe bulkhead assembly 16 in a preselected position, as will become moreapparent.

The construction of each of the locking pins 34, 35, 36 and 37 issubstantially the same and, for this reason, only the locking pin 36will be described in detail by way of particular reference to FIGS. 3through 5. The locking pin 36 may be formed as a forging and has a shankportion 39 that has oppositely facing tapering surfaces 41 and 42. Thesurfaces 41 and 42 converge in a downward direction and towardrespective pin portions 38. The shank portion 39 is received in a socketmember, indicated generally by the reference numeral 43, which socketmember is affixed in any known manner to the respective corner of thebulkhead frame 17. The socket member 43 defines a generally rectangularcross-sectional socket opening having facing tapering surfaces 44 and45. The surfaces 44 and 45 are juxtaposed to the locking pin surfaces 41and 42 and taper at the same angle as these surfaces. Said another way,the angle between the surfaces 44 and 45 is equal to the angle betweenthe surfaces 41 and 42. The socket opening thus receives and slidablysupports the locking pin 39 for movement between an engaged or lockingposition as shown in the figures and a released position. In thereleased position, the pinportions 38 are spaced from the apertures 33so that the bulkhead assembly 16 may be freely moved along the car 11.

In order to operate the locking pins 34, 35, 36 and 37 between theirlocking and released positions, each of the pins is bifurcated at itsupper end and receives one end of a respective actuating link 46. Eachactuating link 46 is pivotally connected to the respective lock pin by apivot pin 47. Each of the links 46 is connected to a common operatingshaft (not shown) which, when rotated, reciprocates the locking pins 34,35, 36 and 37 between their locking and released positions. Thismechanism is not shown in any detail since it forms no part of theinvention. Reference may be had to the copending application of JacksonA. Shook, entitled Freight Bracing Apparatus, Ser. No. 685,980, filedNov. 27, 1967, for the details of the operating structure for therespective locking pins.

It will be noted that when the locking pins 34, 35, 36 and 37 are intheir locking positions, the surfaces 41 and 42 are in full facingcontact with the socket surfaces 44 and 45. Thus, shock loadings appliedto the bulkhead frame 17 will be distributed over these surfaces, thusreducing unit loading. In addition, there is no sharp corner contactbetween the locking pins and supporting socket members, thus anytendency for galling will be reduced. In a conventional construction,the surfaces of the socket opening would be parallel to the axis ofreciprocation of the locking pin and the respective locking pin surfaceswould also be parallel. The necessary manufacturing clearance wouldpermit cocking of the pin within the socket and jambing under shockloadings. Under these conditions, release is difficult or impossible.

In the described construction, clearances in the parts might cause theaforenoted jambing or galling condition. However, the taperingarrangement more nearly assures full face-to-face surface contact. Inaddition, it should be noted from FIG. 5 that as the pin 36 is withdrawnrelative to the socket member 43, a clearance immediately opens betweenthe surfaces 41-44 and 42-45. This clearance increases as the pin 36 ismoved toward its released position. The establishment of this largeclearance reduces the frictional area in contact and thus, althoughthere may be a high initial release force required, this is only amomentary condition. In addition, if the bulkhead frame 17 has beendeflected, the clearance will permit the pin 36 to center itselfrelative to the adjacent apertures 33 so that it may be easilywithdrawn.

It has been noted that the construction of each of the locking pins 34,35, 36 and 37 is the same. Under some circumstances, it may only benecessary to provide the tapered surfaces 41 and 42 and thecorresponding tapered socket surfaces 44 and 45 at the lower end of thebulkhead assembly 16. That is, in some instances, it may only benecessary to taper the surfaces of the locking pins 36 and 37.

What is claimed is:

l. A bulkhead adapted to engage and hold freight in a transportingvehicle, said bulkhead including a bracing portion for engaging freightand subject to deform ation and deflection in the direction of loadingupon the shifting of the freight, a locking pin having a locking partthereof adapted to cooperate with a track carried by the vehicle forlocking the bulkhead in a preselected position and a shank part, and asupporting part carried by said bracing portion of said bulkhead, saidshank portion being slidably supported within an opening defined by saidsupporting part for movement in a direction normal to the direction ofloading between a locked position and a released position, saidsupporting part and said locking pin shank part having facing respectiveportions adapted to be engaged with each other for retaining saidbulkhead in position under the influence of the application of freightloadings thereupon in the direction of loading by precluding relativemovement between the locking pin and supporting member in the directionof loading, said portions being inclined at an angle relative to thepath of movement of said locking pin between its locked position and itsreleased position, said angle diverging from the path of movement in thedirection of movement of said locking pin from its locked position toits released position for providing for movement of said bracing portionof said bulkhead assembly relative to said locking pin in the directionof loading as said locking pin is moved from its locked position to itsreleased position for reducing the frictional forces acting inopposition to the release of said locking pin.

2. A bulkhead as set forth in claim 1 wherein the locking pin andsupporting part have pairs of respective facing portions disposed onopposite sides of a plane passing through the locking pin shank portionalong its path of movement and perpendicular to the direction ofloading, the pairs of cooperating portions diverging from said plane inthe direction of movement of said locking pin from its locked positionto its released position regardless of which side of the bulkhead isloaded and regardless of the direction of loading.

1. A bulkhead adapted to engage and hold freight in a transporting vehicle, said bulkhead including a bracing portion for engaging freight and subject to deformation and deflection in the direction of loading upon the shifting of the freight, a locking pin having a locking part thereof adapted to cooperate with a track carried by the vehicle for locking the bulkhead in a preselected position and a shank part, and a supporting part carried by said bracing portion of said bulkhead, said shank portion being slidably supported within an opening defined by said supporting part for movement in a direction normal to the direction of loading between a locked position and a released position, said supporting part and said locking pin shank part having facing respective portions adapted to be engaged with each other for retaining said bulkhead in position under the influence of the application of freight loadings thereupon in the direction of loading by precluding relative movement between the locking pin and supporting member in the direction of loading, said portions being inclined at an angle relative to the path of movement of said locking pin between its locked position and its released position, said angle diverging from the path of movement in the direction of movement of said locking pin from its locked position to its released position for providing for movement of said bracing portion of said bulkhead assembly relative to said locking pin in the direction of loading as said locking pin is moved from its locked position to its released position for reducing the frictional forces acting in opposition to the release of said locking pin.
 2. A bulkhead as set forth in claim 1 wherein the locking pin and supporting part have pairs of respective facing portions disposed on opposite sides of a plane passing through the locking pin shank portion along its path of movement and perpendicular to the direction of loading, the pairs of cooperating portions diverging from said plane in the direction of movement of said locking pin from its locked position to its released position regardless of which side of the bulkhead is loaded and regardless of the direction of loading. 